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Stacey and Mitch's Wedding

I arrived August 16, 2008. That night we went to went to a pre-wedding rodeo.

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The Winter Park Resort

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Two shots from Jim's room at the Zephyr Lodge, looking at the Founder's Point Resort where I was staying, across the street. They were building new...uh, stuff there (condos?). And a shot of a flower out back near the sky village.

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Two shots of the mountains from Jim's room in the Zephyr Lodge. It was still cloudy and crappy out. It had snowed in the morning the day we arrived. And a shot of Gwen, Jen, and Jim, in Jim's room. Gwen is enrapted and Jen is trying to get photographic evidence as Jim channels powers from Beyond to tell one of his Tales From The Chair. Or maybe it's just gas.

The Rehersal Rodeo in Fraser, CO

I felt like such a city boy.

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We all got green wedding bandanas when we entered. It was an easy way to let the people serving the food know who was part of the wedding party and who was there just for the rodeo.

In the first shot, Jen, Gwen, Jim, and Kendy pose with their fashionable accessory. In the second, Sheriff Jim doesn't take kindly to strangers round these parts. And in the third, Outlaw Frank is soon to discover he can't eat dinner that way.

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The food was quite good: BBQ chicken and brisket (no BBQ pork, it was a Jewish wedding), corn bread, cole slaw, macaroni and cheese, and peach cobbler. A sampling of the offerings can be seen in the first shot.

Stacey, the bride-to-be, finds a more urban way to wear her bandana. Oddly enough, there was supposed to be "Hawg Fest"[sic], a big Harley Davidson motorcycle oriented concert (Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Ted Nugent, etc.) in Winter Park at the same time, but it wound up being cancelled due to the weather. Stacey looked like she would have fit in well.

And another shot of the dining barn.

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Did I mention the weather? It had been snowing and raining and such. And while that's enough to put bikers off, it only encourages rodeo people. The mud only makes it better. (In the bikers' defense, riding up there in cold rain and snow would suck.) A couple shots of the rodeo arena. We stayed for some bronco riding, cattle lassoing, calf wrastling (or maybe rustling), and a few other events.

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Another of Stacey, Jim, and Jen outside the dinner barn, and then Jen, Stacey, and Mitch in the stands. The rodeo announcer mentioned the wedding and all the states where out of town people came from. He didn't mention New York, and in a way I was kind of glad. I imagine that the entire place would fall suddenly silent, and there'd be a gasp as everyone said, simultaneously, "New York City!" The announcer would then say, "Well, pardner, I think you best be moseying on away from these parts." Perhaps I've just seen too many salsa commericals back in the day. Right before we left, they were doing a horse-race-weave-around-barrels-at-high-speed event. As the horse passed by and turned away from us, it kicked up a bunch of mud. Some hit the arm of my jacket. More hit Jen in the head. Later, Kendy speculated that there was probably more unpleasant things in the mud than just, uh, mud.

Oh yes, also there was a rodeo clown. He asked where people were from (after they had announced the out of town guests' states). One person was from the Netherlands, which beats any of us. He asked about Iowa, and Kendy is from there. Later, he walked up to us and chatted with her a little. He also joked with Stacey and Mitch some.

He seemed nice. But, rodeo clowns are still clowns. And clowns are still scary.

The Wedding Day: Up the Mountain

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We took the chairlift to get to the top of the mountain. The first shot is of Jen, Gwen, and Jim on the lift on the way up. The second is looking behind us to another group of well-dressed people on the lift. And the third is of me on the chairlift (hand-held) with Jim in the background. I couldn't get one of all of us (me, Jen, Gwen, and Jim) at once, since I didn't want to fall off or drop the camera.

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A shot of a tower as we passed it on the lift. A shot of the lift as we're going up. And one of the tower just before getting to the top.

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The first picture is of a view from the lift of the mountains. It was really scenic and beautiful. A little cold, but we sort of expected that. The second picture is me, Jim, Jen, and Gwen ready for a snowball fight in August. Of course, proper attire is required for a snowball fight. And the last picture is a view from the top. The top of the lift is on the right, and that is snow on the ground.

The Wedding

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Stacey and Mitch made a grand entrance, coming up the chairlift in the full bridal dress and tuxedo. They are visible in the distance in the center of the picture.

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In the first shot, Mitch draws a veil over Stacey's face. This was a Jewish-ish wedding (no Rabbi; in Colorado, a wedding can be self-officiated). And as is the tradition, the groom draws a veil (the badeken) over the bride. Symbolically, they no longer see each other's outward appearances. Their focus is only of their true, inner natures, the unchanging parts they truly love.

The second picture is of Mitch's wedding vows to Stacey, and the third is Stacey's wedding vows to Mitch. They wrote their own vows. They are standing under a chuppah, a traditional wedding canopy. In this case, it was made from Mitch's Bar Mitzvah tallit, a traditional prayer shawl. There are various symbolic elements to the Chuppah. It represents their home, and is devoid of objects, as the only thing that truly matters are the two of them, and their love. It is outside, under open sky. And it is supported by the family.

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A shot of Gwen and Stacey at the reception (indoors and warm), and one of Jim, Stacey, and me. They provided various temporary tattoos (such as a skull and crossbones that says "till death do us part"). I'm not sure if that's a tribute to the Hawg Fest or not. And yes, Stacey's tattoo was one of those temporary ones. And yes, I have a strange expression on my face like "are you going to take the damn picture already?" The first one was blurry (and not included)... And once again yes (you are quite perceptive), that is a lift ticket on my jacket.

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At the end of the reception, Kendy walked up to Jim, holding a cup of coffee. Jim, not seeing her or the coffee, turned, and knocked her with his elbow. Jim is big, Kendy is not. Kendy was splashed with hot coffee. Her face, her dress, everything was soaked (like I said, she is not big).

I wanted to get a shot while the coffee was still dripping off her face, but I missed that. Even though the first shot was blurry, and her head looks huge, I had to keep it. Her expression shows that she is, indeed, a good sport. However, the second picture shows that, moments later, she is plotting how she shall have her vengeance upon Jim. The poor bastard!

Outside and Heading Down the Mountain

There were mountain bikers that were going up the lift, some in full body armor, as we went down. I didn't get any pictures of them.

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A few shots of the snow-capped mountains around Winter Park Mountain though I'm not quite sure which ones they are. It is still cloudy and overcast, though no rain.

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A self-timer shot of me with some nice mountains as a backdrop. A view of a trail and mountains. And on the chairlift on the way down.

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The trip down the chairlift was just as scenic as the trip up. On the way up, they were putting 4 people in a lift; on the way down they were only putting 2. I wound up on one by myself. The first picture shows Jim and Jen were on the lift in front of me. Unfortunately, the camera doesn't have a good telephoto or zoom capability. The second picture is of the hillside and the third is of the snow-capped mountains.

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More views of the mountains on the way down. At one point, there was a break in the clouds and a bit of blue sky became visible. Strikingly blue.

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On the way up, we noticed that there were beads on many of the trees. Jen, who has family in the area, commented that often college students will throw things on the trees. Things like underwear and bras. And in areas that are only open in the winter. Less than a minute after she said that, we spotted a red bra hanging in a tree. I got a picture of it on the way down.

Gwen had been apprehensive about taking the lift, but after being reassured by several people that it is not certain death, she took it. Kendy took the bus up but, she and Gwen rode together on the way down. and both enjoyed the spectacular view.

A Quick Hike

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The hike was pleasant, since generally wedding weekends wind up being mostly eating and more eating. The view was nice, but I didn't take many pictures. The first picture is of some pretty flowers on the hillside. The second is of a memorial marker next to one of the chairlift towers. Jim had spotted it on the way down. You can read it for details, I know nothing more of it. The last picture is of the resort and a freight train going into the tunnel. Jim and Jen were speculating on where the tunnel actually comes out, since there's no obvious end to the tunnel. From the hillside, Melanie was able to read that it said "Moffat Tunnel" above the tunnel entrance. Jen had an iPhone and good reception, so she looked it up. Turns out Moffat Tunnel is a famous railroad tunnel 6.2 miles (10km) long! It goes through the mountains and the continental divide. From the hill, it looked like a model railroad going into the Land Of Makebelieve.

Related Colorado pictures:
Boulder pictures
Rocky Mountain National Park pictures

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